There is an “x” on the pavement marking the location at Dealey Plaza where John F. Kennedy’s motorcade was when he was fatally shot on November 22, 1963. While the marking is significant to display coordinates of the historic and tragic event, over time the pavement markings have been known to be the site of other near accidents as pedestrians obliviously step into the active roadway.

I grew up hearing conspiracies of alternative ways that JFK could have had his life taken that day. In fact, there was even a college professor at a community college I attended that would spew Alex Jones level theories. They had nothing to do with the class topic, just a really weird mini session semester to struggle through.

While I tend to subscribe to the Lee Harvey Oswald from the Depository Building scenario, the possibility of alternative malice is one that has always stuck with me. It is unsettling to me to realize that there are beings in this world so consumed by anger that they place it above the dignity and respect for another human’s life.

Yet, almost 57 years after JFK’s assassination, I fear that there is as much if not more vitriol brewing. Publicly, I have watched more and more animosity build. So much so, that I have chosen to disconnect. I reduce the amount of news coverage I consume, and ultimately provide myself a pivot. I do this by trying to find good in the world. Sometimes, especially on the days that I find it harder to search for good, I try to create my own.

I wasn’t even a thought the day that JFK died. But from what I read, the country mourned together and started the process of healing. Healing together.

Tragedy seems more common, or at least news of such spreads in lightning fast ways. But I hope that we are able to heal faster and together again. I’m searching for the good. I am working to be more of that more often as well.

The moon is reflective of the sun’s rays, so when I think about “The Dark Side of The Moon”, I ponder the unexamined parts of our lives. What might we need to bring to the light in order to heal and grow? That answer is for each of us to respond in our own ways after self examination.

The track this week is “Brain Damage” from Pink Floyd’s “The Dark Side of The Moon”, though I never called the song its actual title. I called it “The Lunatic is in my Head” throughout my listens to the tune in High School, taken from the lyrics. But, whether you think the song applies to the fateful day in Dallas in 1963, if all of this is in my head, or something in between I think that at best we should heed the call to find something positive to embody in trying and confusing times.

Be good to one another, y’all.